Cranial kinesis
comparative anatomy
Cranial kinesis is movement of skull bones relative to one another, apart from the opening and closing of the lower jaw at the jaw joint. In most discussions the term refers especially to movement between the upper jaw, palate, quadrate and the braincase. Cranial kinesis contrasts with an akinetic skull, in which the bones of the skull roof, palate and suspensorium are effectively locked together by sutures, fusion or rigid articulations.
Kinetic skulls occur in many vertebrate groups, but the degree and mechanical importance of the movement vary widely. In fishes, cranial kinesis is often associated with rapid expansion of the mouth cavity during suction feeding and with protrusion of the jaws. In birds it commonly permits elevation or flexion of the upper beak. In snakes and some lizards, it contributes to large gape, prey transport and swallowing. Conversely, animals that rely on very high bite forces, such as crocodilians, usually have rigid skulls with little or no intracranial movement. In mammals the skull is generally akinetic; this rigidity is associated partly with the evolution of a bony secondary palate and with changes in jaw-muscle arrangement and occlusion.
Functional significance
The functional effect of cranial kinesis depends on which elements move and how they are linked.
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This entry incorporates text from “Cranial kinesis” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.